Ahh, the comforts of home, at long last.... after 2 gruelling away trips in quick succession, our valiant warriors return home to the CCS to ready themselves for the visit of our nearest 'foreign' rivals as the red chested, tractor driving (no, not Remote) Bristolians head across the bridge from BS3. Our visitors come to us in almost archetypical form, having been consistently inconsistent, something that can pretty much be said about their entire 9 years back at this level. their last outing in midweek saw them fall to a 1-0 home defeat courtesy of high flying Ipswich. Having watched the bulk of the game (thanks to Mrs Brizzle) I'd say Ipswich were good value for their win and could have been far more comfortable but for some dogged defending, good blocks and fine saves from the Robins' back line. They did create one or two chances of their own and almost snatched an undeserved point but the game further served to highlight their current failings (one which we are all too familiar with ourselves in recent years) - scoring goals. Only one of their wins has come by a margin of more than one goal and several of their wins have (in my humble opinion) been scraped results (Coventry and Rotherham both spring to mind). This seeming inability to get commanding results however is offset by a defence that has been more miserly than our own, with just 14 goals conceded in 13 games and only 1 defeat by more than a 1 goal margin (0-2 at home to Birmingham), so a potentially tough nut to crack for our more creative players it seems. It does sound as though our visitors are having an injury crisis akin to our own recent issues, with possibly only 2 fit specialist defenders in the shape of Dickie & Pring (sounds like a dodgy solicitor firm to me, let's hope they are defensively dodgy Saturday). Speculation is also rife that Nigel Pearson himself could be on his way out with his contract due to expire at the end of season and no word yet on any new offer, something the gruff gaffer has been rather vocal about in the press. Could this uncertainty lead to a less than ideal atmosphere in the visitors dressing room? Whilst on the subject of Pearson, it's also become clear that he is currently undergoing tests for an unknown neurological issue, so I'm sure we would all wish him a speedy resolution to his problems. Last time out of course saw us triumph 2-0 on home soil thanks to goals from Kaba and Philogene. What price any of our current loanees getting on the score sheet this weekend? That game also saw Perry Ng show his versatility by taking over between the posts after Alnwick was sent off, with he himself having come on to replace the injured Alex Smithies earlier in the game. Of course, Ng kept a clean sheet! Bulut's Bulletin Having made positive changes to the starting 11 in mid-week, you'd think that surely Erol isn't going to tamper with the team too much having witnessed our biggest win of the season thus far? Josh Bowler was taken off in the Huddersfield game with a knock but is expected to still be in the squad at least for this one. Should he not make the starting 11 this time around odds are Ollie Tanner may get the nod instead or we could see Yakou Meite moved out wide and Ike Ugbo return up top. I think I know what the general consensus would be on those options on these boards though! It will be interesting to see if Kion Etete is close to a return, but if he is it will be to the bench only. On our visitors, the gaffer said "They show some good games in the last few weeks,". "They have many injuries and they have rotated, but on Saturday, we expect a team who are fast, it will not be easy. We have to be at 100% on the field. “I hope that we can do it, so we are on that level that we can do it. Of course, to win two derbies and to bring something back to the fans, I think there will be 25,000, maybe more, in the stadium, so we want to give our fans something back for how they support us. This will be the thank you for them, with three points, I hope." Previous Meetings Some cracking games have been played out between our 2 sides over the years, here are just a few to savour..... And whilst this one was away from home, I just have to put in in, purely for kicks What Are The Odds On That? So as Vince redeemed himself in mid-week, he gets another shot at bringing the boys in blue some luck and it seems he's feeling very confident about this one... a little too confident for my liking if I'm honest. Well I Never Did you know that Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the Pirate was born in Bristol in the late 1600s and called the city his home. Blackbeard went on to become one of the most infamous pirates in history, and his legacy is still well known to this day. Sailing the British colonies and West Indies on the Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard and his fearsome crew plundered many merchant vessels before finally meeting his demise in 1718 in North Carolina. Some things never change, I'm sure Coventry and Rotherham fans feel equally as robbed as many of Blackbeard's victims too! Bungee jumping may be world famous today, but it owes its origins to the city of Bristol. On 1st April 1979, David Kirke, a member of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club was the first to take the plunge. Jumping from Clifton Suspension bridge harnessed into his bungee cord, Kirke would live to tell the tale. Things weren’t all fun and games, however. Shortly after the jump, Kirke found himself in the back of a police car. Makes sense and definitely mirrors the up and down nature and history of the football clubs in the city!! Lastly, whilst the Bristol City club crest sports a founding date of 1894, they are in fact only 41 years old as a club and have never played above this level in the league, nor won a major trophy having been 'reformed' under a new company in 1982! (NB. there may be a little bit of poetic licence in there). Sharing The Love With the proximity of our 2 sides, there have been so many players that have donned shirts for both teams, so I've decided to try pick a few out from different eras/generations, but there was only one place I could have started really wasn't there? Brian Clarke After leaving Bristol City in an exchange deal for John Quigley, Clarke spent just two years in Yorkshire before being snapped up by Cardiff City manager Jimmy Scoular for £8,000. Scoring twice on his debut during a 4–3 win over Derby County, he went on to form a lethal partnership with John Toshack, ending the season with 17 goals and his first Welsh Cup winners medal. Clark finished as the club's top scorer for the next two seasons, as well as scoring 5 times in a single match against Barmouth & Dyffryn, falling short of Derek Tapscott's club record of goals in a game by just one. It was during the 1970–71 season that he achieved probably the high point of his career when he headed in the only goal of the first leg against Real Madrid in a 1–0 win during the European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final. The following year he again finished as Cardiff's top scorer, the third successive year he had done so, before he and Ian Gibson were surprisingly sold to AFC Bournemouth for a combined fee of £100,000. Clark spent one year at Bournemouth, followed by a spell at Millwall but soon returned to Ninian Park to play for Cardiff again. His second spell at the club lasted just a single season but he still managed to help the club win promotion to Division Two. He left the club to sign for Newport County before finishing his career with a number of player-manager roles at several Welsh Football League sides. Clarke sadly passed away in 2010 after losing his battle against dementia but he will be immortalised forever in the hearts of all Bluebirds, young and old. Bobby Decordova-Reid Another native Bristolian, Reid came through the ranks at his home town club and was something of a hoe grown hero the Robins faithful (in fact, a close Wurzel friend of mine even named his dog after him ). That love in soured somewhat when he unexpectedly signed for the newly promoted Bluebirds, having lost patience waiting for a shot at the Premier League with his home town team. Joining on 28 June 2018, Reid signed for a reported fee of £10 million, describing the 2017–18 season as 'crazy'. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2018–19 season during a 2–0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth but scored his first goal in a Cardiff shirt in a 4–2 win over Fulham in October. Reid however never really settled in Cardiff, with the system being employed not really giving opportunity to get the best out of him and he soon moved on loan to Fulham, with the move eventually being made permanent and the fee paid recouped by the Bluebirds. He has since settled and continues to perform to a decent level in the Premier League. Personally I think Warnock only bought him just to wind up our Severnside rivals! Lee Tomlin A bit of a marmite character for our visitors but a very charismatic and mercurial talent, Tomlin is another who made the switch under Neil Warnock during 2017, again showing the lure of South Wales over the West Country. Whilst Tomlin's time with the Bluebirds was a little mixed, he certainly provided many memorable moments for the Bluebirds fans. After some fitness struggles Tomlin eventually left the Bluebirds, signing for Walsall in 2022 having had some loan spells at both Nottm Forest and Peterborough. Jason Fowler A blast from the past, Fowler joined the then third division Bluebirds in 1996, earning promotion under Frank Burrows, eventually leaving in 2001 for Torquay Utd. Rather than recreate it, there is an excellent piece here on the silky midfielder. https://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/new...aying-extra-man-when-supporters-had-your-back So, can we send our visitors back across the bridge, red breasted and red faced after beating them once again? Will our perfect '10' Robbo help rout the Robins and continue his fine form?? Or will it all get a bit Massey as we plough our way to victory??? All I know is I'm stuck in bloody Devon again this weekend (family, grrrrrrrrr ) but then I was in the same place last season when we won 2-0 so that's gotta be a good sign right?? Bloooooooooooooobirds!!!! <0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>\0/<0>
Another masterpiece from our scribe extraordinaire. Who else would incorporate the history of bungee jumping in a football post? Also we are minded to be upstanding at 70 minutes tomorrow to remember Phil Dwyer on what would have been Joe’s 70th birthday. If we play as well as we did on Tuesday we should be coming away with another three points in the bag. I do hope so.
https://www.facebook.com/1000443677...cn5F9QzuLBzsnZSgkMUKB9KQPuf3eF24wGbpp9BbB1dl/ Just to stoke things up a little more.
Brilliant Brizzle strikes again. Another wonderful read, thank you. I hope we don't buy into the lowering of expectations by our opponents. Massive injury issues or not, this is a local derby with players on their side seeing a chance to cement regular games as first choices. There should be no changes from our starting line up of Tuesday last. Let's take it to them from the start again. Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds
Excellent read as usual ps it was Alsop sent off not Alnwick who then got sent off in the next game at Preston - that’s a quiz question for the anoraks
Lovely read! Hope your pessimism is not realisd....altho the prediction league shows us asking for it. May Mrs Brizzle not cut off relations when we win!!!
That’s how to hold a lead - attack and not sit back. Inspired performance with Colwill’s goal the cherry on the cake
Hes very close to tears on yokel 606. Bleating on about their standards have dropped if avoiding relegation is their aim even though theyve been useless feckers for countless years.
Just a quick look in this evening. I thought we made hard work of that against a poor side. Easily the better of the two teams on the pitch but we needed an earlier goal. That said, we're in the top 6 and it's up to us to stay there.
